Parcels to Places Wants to Transform Vacant Properties

Many neighborhoods in Columbus are plagued with vacant land where homes or businesses once stood, and some neighborhoods have struggled to fill those gaps back in with new structures. A new program called “Parcels to Places” will kick off next week, which aims to address this issue through public involvement and community creativity.

“The kickoff event is for a larger competition we’re hosting,” explained Lisa Snyder, an Architectural Designer with the Neighborhood Design Center, which is helping to organize the event along with partners at The Columbus Foundation, The City of Columbus and The Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing. “We have a few speakers to talk about experiences with similar programs in Louisville and New Orleans, and we’ll share outcomes and goals we have in mind for the program here in Columbus.”

Snyder said that one of the biggest goals is to raise awareness not only about the number of vacant properties found in certain neighborhoods, but also to showcase properties that are owned by the City and County Land Banks and are available for redevelopment. The Parcels to Places program will encourage development in the form of both temporary installations — like urban gardens and community spaces — and permanent structures like new neighborhood housing.

“We’re looking for innovative ideas, and there’s funding available to help implement,” said Snyder. “We’re also looking to template some of these ideas and replicate them other neighborhoods — if it works on the South Side, it could work on East Side. That’s an ideal situation.”

Parcels to Places will take place on February 9th at 6pm at the King Arts Complex.

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Walker is the co-founder of ColumbusUnderground.com and TheMetropreneur.com along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.

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Walker is the co-founder of ColumbusUnderground.com and TheMetropreneur.com along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.